Flyers draftee meets with 7-year-old player who is also hearing-impaired

When the final horn sounded on the Flyers’ development camp, Noah Powell had left a big impression on the team’s management and fans.

He left an even bigger impression before the scrimmage last Saturday. In the press conference room at the Flyers training center in Voorhees, Powell met with Howard James, a 7-year-old who recently wrapped up his first full year with Snider Hockey and, like Powell, is hearing-impaired.

“When you hear that your child has hearing loss, you think of all the things that they may not potentially be able to do,” said Howard’s mother, Tia Graves-James. “So when someone’s already paving the way, it’s like yes, it’s possible. The next steps could be, it doesn’t eliminate your opportunity just because you have hearing loss.

“So, seeing [Powell] there, I thought, well, you know, Howard, I guess I’m going to continue to show up to these practices and see what happens.”

According to his mother, Howard loves being on the ice and skating around — and the showmanship of it, she said. Graves-James, a teacher in the Philadelphia School District, was introduced to Snider Hockey by coworkers who partner with the organization as tutors.

She asked Howard if he wanted to play hockey and after showing him the sport, he was in.

While Powell wears hearing aids and can read lips, Howard was born profoundly deaf and wears cochlear implants. After Powell gave Howard a signed long-sleeve T-shirt and hat, Graves-James had a few questions. One was about how he handles playing hockey with hearing aid devices that can be impacted by the helmet and sweat. Powell said that a sweat guard over the hearing aids should help deal with the moisture.

“The way I used to look at it and explain was just glasses for your ears,” Powell said. “Just like a simple way to put it out there because it’s not something you see every day. So, yeah, I understood his mom’s questions because my mom had the same questions. And sometimes, we didn’t really have the answers, so it’s unique to be able to give someone the answers and hopefully, he’s in a better spot than I was at his age.”

The sweat guard should also help secure Howard’s implants. Cochlear implants are a little different from hearing aids — it’s a digital sound as opposed to the analog sound of a hearing aid — and they have had problems with the device falling onto the ice and breaking while Howard is playing.

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“That’s happened maybe three or four times and it makes you nervous. ... And one time it did fall off and it broke,” Graves-James said about the implants that are about $9,000 per side.

A week ago, Powell was selected in the fifth round by the Flyers in the NHL draft. He will be heading to Ohio State in the fall and has already impressed his coach.

“I think it speaks volumes of who he is, what he is, what he’s all about,” Buckeyes coach Steve Rohlik said. “This is just, I think, another focal piece for people out there in the similar situation. You don’t have to give up. You don’t ever have to give up. You can keep pushing forward and you can still be the best and reach your goals.”

Powell is now using his platform to help the next generation and knows how special this moment is.

“It was pretty cool. I never had something like this, to give this to someone else,” Powell said. “I feel it’s a special moment and hopefully one day he can give it to another kid. I feel like you’re always playing for something bigger than yourself.”